After a long career at Barron's, I joined Forbes as San Francisco bureau chief in December 2010. I've been writing about technology and investing for more than 25 years. With the Tech Trade, I've picked up where I left off when I was writing the Tech Trader Daily blog at Barrons.com. When I'm not working, you can find me riding my road bike around the Bay Area hills, managing my fantasy baseball team, rooting for my beloved Phillies and Eagles and hanging out in the Valley with my family. You can follow me on Facebook, on Twitter (@savitz), and on Google+.

Trouble In Japan: Sharp Seeks Capital, Panasonic Slashes Jobs

Once the dominant producers of televisions, cameras, stereo equipment and other electronic goods, Japan’s leading electronics manufacturers – including iconic brands like Panasonic, Sharp and Sony – are getting battered by the impact of mobile technology, the Internet and shifting consumer tastes, as well crumbling prices for flat-screen televisions.

This morning brings two reminders of just how bad things have become.

Panasonic will cut another 10,000 jobs by the end of the company’s March fiscal year, the company’s chief financial officer told Reuters in an interview. He noted that about 20% of the company’s 88 business units are losing money, and only half have met a goal of at least a 5% operating margin. Note that the company has already cut 36,000 jobs, some of those through divestitures. The company previously warned that it will lose close to $10 billion in the March 2013 fiscal year, including large write-offs in its mobile phone, solar panel and lithium battery businesses. Panasonic employs about 300,000 people.

Meanwhile, Reuters also reported that Intel and Qualcomm are in talks to invest 30 billion yen – about $378 million – in struggling Sharp Corp. The story, attributed to “two sources familiar with the matter,” noted that Intel has an interest in Sharp’s power-saving IGZO displays. The piece also notes that the company could have a deal in place with Qualcomm by the end of this month, but that talks with Intel are less concrete. In Tokyo trading, Sharp shares jumped 11% on the news. The piece noted that Sharp has been effectively shunned by the debt markets due to massive losses and falling market share.

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Panasonic now reports it plans to close a plasma-TV plant in Shanghai. Here’s how Forbes saw the company entering China a dozen years ago with high hopes: http://www.forbes.com/global/2000/1113/0323092a.html